‘Wheel of Fortune’ Called Out For Using Image That Appeared To Include Slaves

One episode during Wheel of Fortune’srecent “Southern Charm” week crossed the line from “charming” to “offensive.” During the June 15 episode, hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White did their normal on-stage banter–except they did so in front of an image that appeared to depict slaves on a plantation home. That’s definitely not an image you want to use during “Southern Charm” week.

The questionable imagery did not go unnoticed by Twitter. The image can be seen in the video below, which features Pat complimenting Vanna on her effortless charm while the pair stand in front of an image of a plantation with two black women in full antebellum garb standing by the front door. Twitter user Joshua Itiola asked the question on a lot of viewers’ minds: “Someone please tell me why Wheel of Fortune has slaves in their ‘Southern Charm Week’ images?”

Wheel of Fortune has since responded to the controversy. “We regret the use of this background image, and we will be replacing it moving forward on any rebroadcast,” Wheel EP Harry Friedman said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly The image won’t be used in subsequent reruns of the episode.

An unnamed source told EW that the background comes from footage Wheel shot in 2005 while on location in New Orleans. The women in the photo are actually tour guides dressed in period garb at the Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana. Oak Alley Plantation told the New York Daily News that they don’t have actors that portray slaves.